Outdoor garden tap repair that ends drips, leaks and frost damage outside in Shirley
Leaking or faulty garden tap?
Booking fee plus hourly labour — the price is confirmed before any work starts.
What this costs
| Booked 14+ days ahead | £25 booking fee £85 per hour |
|---|---|
| Booked within 48 hours | £100 booking fee £65 per hour |
| Same-day call-out | £220 booking fee £45 per hour |
The booking fee secures the visit. Labour is then charged by the hour, so you only pay for the time the job actually takes.
Booking fee £25–£220
£25 + £85/hr booked 14+ days ahead, £100 + £65/hr inside 48 hours, £220 + £45/hr same day. Agreed before we arrive.
Covered under Taps
Plumbing › Taps — one of 17 documented jobs in this section.
Same-day outdoor tap repair
Urgent jobs can often be booked for today. Ask when you book and we will confirm the slot before you pay anything.
15 service areas
Birmingham, Coventry, Dorridge and 12 more across the West Midlands.
The garden tap is one of the most used and least looked-after fittings in the home. It gets dragged on by hose connectors, frozen in winter, baked in summer and bumped by the lawnmower — and because it sits outside, a leak is out of sight and out of mind.
What goes wrong with outdoor taps
Outdoor taps fail in predictable ways. The washer inside the tap head wears out from constant use, producing a steady drip. The gland packing or O-rings behind the handle perish, so water weeps around the spindle when the tap is running. Hose connector fittings cross-thread or crack, leaking at the spout. The connection to the supply pipe can work loose or corrode, dampening the wall it is fixed to. And in winter, water trapped in the tap and its supply pipe can freeze, splitting the tap body or the pipe behind it — a problem that only shows itself when things thaw.
Why an outside tap leak matters more than you think
An outdoor drip quietly waters nothing useful. It wastes water day and night, softens the ground or paving beneath it, encourages moss and algae, and in cold weather turns to an ice hazard on the path. Leaks at the wall soak the brickwork and can track inside, causing damp patches and mould on internal walls. A tap split by frost can fail suddenly, releasing a surprising amount of water against your house — often while nobody is watching. What looks like a minor nuisance deserves prompt attention for exactly these reasons.
How we diagnose the fault
We start with the obvious: where exactly is the water coming from — spout, handle, backnut or the connection behind the wall? We isolate the supply, remove the tap headwork and inspect the washer, gland packing and seats for wear or scale damage. We check the tap body for frost cracks, test the supply connection and the pipe behind the wall, and confirm the isolating valve (if fitted) actually works. You get a plain-English explanation of what has failed and why.
How we fix it
Most garden tap repairs are straightforward: a new washer, fresh gland packing or new O-rings, a replaced hose connector fitting, or re-seating a worn valve seat. Corroded or frost-cracked tap bodies are replaced like-for-like, with the new tap properly secured and sealed at the wall. If the supply pipe or connection behind the wall has been damaged, we repair that too. Before we finish, we restore the supply, test the tap under pressure with a hose connected, and confirm every joint stays dry.
Protecting your outside tap
The single best thing you can do is prepare for winter: isolate the supply and drain the tap before the first hard frost, or ask us to fit a proper isolating and drain-down arrangement so it takes seconds. Do not leave connectors on the tap through winter. Keep the tap well secured so it does not get levered by the hose, and fix drips early — a worn washer is a five-minute fix, a frost-split tap is not.
When to call us
Book a visit for any persistent drip, a leak around the handle or at the wall, a tap that will not turn, low flow from the outside tap, or damage after a freeze. If water is appearing inside the house near where the tap is piped, call urgently — that suggests a problem behind the wall.
Book your garden tap repair now
Do not let a small outdoor drip become a damp wall or a flooded path. Book your call-out today and get your outside water supply reliable again.
How the price works
We charge a booking fee to hold your slot, then an hourly rate for the work itself. The fee changes with how soon you need us; the hourly rate changes with the slot you choose. You approve the price before we start, so there is no surprise on the invoice.
Booked 14+ days ahead
£25 booking fee
then £85 per hour of labour
Best value. Book the slot now, pay the smallest booking fee.
Booked within 48 hours
£100 booking fee
then £65 per hour of labour
For jobs that can wait a day or two but not a fortnight.
Same-day call-out
£220 booking fee
then £45 per hour of labour
Urgent problems: standing water, no heat, no power, leaks.
Book the slot
Choose the window that suits you and pay the booking fee. That holds your place in the diary.
We diagnose on site
The engineer confirms the cause and tells you what the job involves and how long it should take.
You approve, we work
Nothing goes ahead until you agree the price. Labour is then charged per hour at your slot rate.
An outdoor tap is easy to ignore — until the drip becomes a stream or the ground around it turns to mud. Garden taps live a hard life: frost, sun, knocks and constant use wear out washers, seals and connections.
What our customers say about our plumbing service
4.7 out of 5 from 11 reviews
Second time we have used them
What I appreciated was being told what was actually wrong before anyone started. Sorted in under 32 minutes and the invoice matched the quote to the penny.
Job: Loose Pipe Connections Repair
Worth the booking fee
Booked the £220 booking-fee slot on Tuesday and got a message confirming the time the same morning. The cause was explained, the price agreed before any work started, and the job was done in about 75 minutes. Clean and tidy when they left.
Job: Hidden Pipe Leak Repair
Turned up when they said
Turned up in the window they promised, walked me through the options (turns out the part had to be sourced locally), then cracked on. Everything was tested before they left. No mess, no drama, no surprise on the bill.
Job: Central Heating Leak Repair
Book Outdoor Tap Repair
Tell us what is happening and choose a slot. If you are not sure this is the right job, use the diagnosis panel — it narrows the problem down before you book.
- Booking fee confirmed up front
- Hourly labour, agreed before work starts
- Same-day slots for urgent problems
Questions people ask about outdoor tap repair
Straight answers to the things customers ask most often before booking.
Why is my outdoor tap leaking even when it is turned off?
A drip from the spout with the tap closed almost always means a worn washer or a damaged valve seat — both routine repairs. Water around the handle or at the wall points to failing gland packing or a loose connection instead. We diagnose exactly where the water is escaping from before repairing.
How is the work priced?
You pay a booking fee when you book, and labour is charged hourly at a rate that depends on how quickly you need us. The full cost of the work is quoted before we start, so you approve it before any tools come out.
Should I turn off my outside tap in winter?
Yes — isolating the supply and draining the tap before hard frosts prevents the water inside freezing and splitting the tap or pipe. If your tap has no isolating valve, we can fit one during a visit, which makes winter shutdown a quick annual habit.
My garden tap has frozen and will not turn — can it be saved?
Possibly, but do not force it. A frozen tap may have also split internally, and forcing the handle can crack it further. Let it thaw naturally, then have us inspect it — we will repair it if the body is sound or replace it like-for-like if it has cracked.
What does a leaking tap repair include?
Diagnosis and labour for the repair, including standard parts such as washers, O-rings and gland packing from our stock. A full tap replacement or supply pipe repair would be quoted separately if needed – and only with your approval first.
Need outdoor tap repair sorted in Shirley?
Book a slot in the diary and pay only the booking fee up front. We confirm the rest before we start.